On Oct. 12, 1997, Officer John Sowa and his partner were dispatched after a witness reported seeing Lawler hit his girlfriend with a bag. Lawler and Donna Rodgers had been walking home from a nearby bar.

Sowa and Officer Patricia Cocciolone saw Rodgers, intoxicated, sitting on a curb in a parking lot and Lawler trying to pull her to her feet. Lawler walked away and went home when he saw the officers.

The two officers decided to give Rodgers a ride to the couple?셲 Buckhead apartment.

Gregory Lawler is slated to be the seventh person put to death in Georgia this year. (Photo source: Georgia Department of ... read more

Gregory Lawler is slated to be the seventh person put to death in Georgia this year. (Photo source: Georgia Department of Corrections)

When Lawler opened the door, he shouted obscenities at the two officers as Rodgers walked in. Then, according to testimony, Lawler grabbed an AR-15 carbine he kept by the door and fired 15 perpetrator bullets, which can pierce police body armor.

After a six-hour standoff, a hostage negotiator persuaded Lawler to surrender. In the apartment, police found the assault rifle used to kill Sowa and wound Cocciolone, along with numerous other firearms and several types of ammunition.